As much as I (Jeremy) want to avoid it, every time I take attendance for my classes I have a bit of shock on my face when I write the date. First it was Thanksgiving... and now Christmas has come and gone. I can hardly believe it is almost the end of the year and the beginning of another one. I have already gotten a few yearly updates from friends and family about the different things they have done over the year. Once I get past the shock, I'd say it's been a great year, without a doubt.
December in itself has been a fairly full month. For starters, two of our top students traveled up to Beijing for their big English test, Jeremy contracted chicken pox (not as bad as they make it sound), we traveled down to Hong Kong to take care of some paper work, then we put on a Christmas program and had our own Christmas only two days later. The wildest part of this whole thing is, throughout the whole month, we did not stop teaching or cancel classes.
The weather has gotten much colder this month, more than I could have expected. we should rephrase that, we have been colder this month then we expected, the weather really isn't that bad. The problem here is, they simply do not insulate their buildings or believe in heating their homes. People seem to just live in the cold and deal with it. Jeremy, on the other hand, has not accepted this idea and is finding new ways to stay warm and make our home livable during the colder months of the winter. Little things like putting foam padding against the single-paned glass does wonders.
Many people have asked how we celebrate Christmas around here, which is a great question. The Chinese use Christmas as an excuse to boost sales, but they don't actually celebrate it. If the 25th hadn't fallen on a Tuesday, chances are we wouldn't have even gotten the day off. We certainly used the time we had, though. Christmas morning was spent celebrating the wedding of one of our co-workers. Experiencing a Chinese wedding is not too unusual we found-- you just go out to eat a huge meal with the other friends and family of the bride or groom. Other than a few more fireworks and the bride's white dress, it would be hard to tell it was a wedding! Afterward, Jeremy & I began preparing for Christmas dinner. Thirteen of our Chinese friends and co-workers came over to Tim & Mabel's where we fed them a full American spread. Jeremy did a terrific job of creating American dishes with Chinese ingredients! He managed to make mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, pineapple pork (since they didn't have ham readily available at the market), dinner rolls, baked chicken & rice casserole and coleslaw. For dinner, we served banana muffins and apple pie. It was quite a feast, especially for people with Chinese-sized appetites. Our favorite part of the evening was probably watching the Chinese eat gravy, as strange as that might sound. Since they thought it was soup, a couple of them drank it by the bowlful!
As the calendar moves closer and closer to 2013, Jeremy & I (Rachel) have taken time to reflect on everything we've done this year. I am overwhelmed by the grace we have received through this year; there is no way we could accomplish everything without it. Here's a brief sketch of what all has happened:
- Rachel's South Africa trip with Chamber Singers (March 10-17)
- Rachel's performance of "A Shayna Maidel", a play set after World War II (March 1-3)
- Jeremy's completion of CVC internship in Ohio
- Rachel's senior voice recital (May 3)
- College Graduation (May 5)
- Rachel's last summer home
- Rachel's 3 months of employment at Moriarty Community Library
- Jeremy's 3 months of working 3 jobs
- Pre-wedding reception & China announcement in New Mexico (June 9)
- Rachel's 22nd birthday (July 25)
- Our wedding (August 11)
- Move to China (August 23)
- Employment at Apple Tree English Training Center
- Our best friends from college were married; week in the USA (September 8)
- Jeremy's 23rd birthday (September 22)
- First Thanksgiving as a married couple (November 22)
- First Christmas as a married couple (December 25)
- Childhood best friend's wedding (December 28)
During such a great amount of changes in a small amount of time, we're grateful for your friendship and support. We need people around us, and we appreciate all of you who continue to do that from far away.
Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year from the VanStriens :)
